Echoing Moscow, Islamabad and Pyongyang, Beijing’s alignment with Tehran challenges its credibility as a neutral mediator.

As an unprecedented Israeli attack on Iran last week sparks a spiraling conflict between the two enemy states, China has seen an opportunity to cast itself as potential peace broker – and an alternative voice to the United States.

By Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese farmers and small firms have increasingly bought market-ready pigs from larger breeders and fattened them in a bet on higher prices, but the government is cracking down on the speculative practice to slim down hogs and stabilise the market.

China has an estimated 600 nuclear warheads—an increase of 100 in just one year—the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported.

As President Trump’s tariffs close off the U.S. market, Chinese goods are flooding countries from Southeast Asia to Europe to Latin America.

Some Chinese civil servants have been ordered not to dine out in groups of more than three after deaths linked to excessive alcohol consumption at banquets, according to interviews and social media posts,

China churned out a lot less steel in May compared to the previous year as mills responded to the government’s pledge to cut production.

China purports to be a neutral and responsible force for good on the international stage, but its allegiances are as parochial as those of any other nation. This is demonstrated by its unstinting support for friends like Pakistan and Iran as they do battle with India and Israel,

New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will visit China from Tuesday, looking to foster trade ties and woo tourists and students, although thorny issues of security and defence will figure on his agenda in meetings with top leaders.

Taiwan has added China’s tech titan Huawei and chip giant Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) to its export control list, stepping up efforts to align with Washington’s crackdown on companies driving Beijing’s artificial intelligence ambitions.

China has reported a mixed economic performance in May, as retail sales jumped while factory output slowed in the face of higher U.S. tariffs.